Today - 30/12/2008

Presented by Evan Davis and Edward Stourton. With guest editor Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor. Francis Campbell considers if his position as the Ambassador to the Holy See - a post that has existed since 1479 - is still justified. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor visits noted Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli with religious affairs correspondent Robert Piggott to get a few cooking tips. Aleem Maqbool reports on the continuing air strikes in Gaza City. Jane Dreaper reports on the project by the King's Fund to try to get nurses and other staff to focus on being compassionate. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor wants to shed a little light on what goes on in the Vatican when the leaders of the Catholic Church gather to elect a new pope. He shows Ed Stourton around the Sistine Chapel. Government adviser John Lewis discusses if the government overestimates the importance of speed in causing accidents. How much responsibility do elected mayors have as a focus and human face for a town or city? Jonny Dymond compares two similar sized towns in France and England. Thought for the day with Father Jerome Murphy O'Connor, professor of the New Testament at the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor talks to the PM Gordon Brown about the morality of politics. Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen and Richard Haass, president of think tank the Council on Foreign Relations, discuss if calls from the international community for a ceasefire will be listened to. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor considers some of the biggest changes in the Roman Catholic Church since the Reformation. Phil Hope, minister of state for care services at the Department of Health, and Professor Sheila Hollins, professor of psychiatry of learning disability at St George's, University of London, discuss how doctors and nurses can be more compassionate. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor discusses the properties of a great piece of music with concert pianist Stephen Hough. Academic Peter Hennessy discusses the vulnerability of the Uk to attack in the 1970s. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor discusses the best - and worst - things about being editor of the Today programme.